


Yuletide Dancing

by Impala_Cherry_Trickster



Category: Merlin (TV)
Genre: Awesome Morgana (Merlin), Canon Era, Court Sorcerer Merlin (Merlin), Dancing, F/M, Fluff and Crack, Good Morgana (Merlin), Gwaine Being Gwaine (Merlin), Hurt Merlin (Merlin), Kissing, Protective Morgana (Merlin)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-26
Updated: 2020-09-26
Packaged: 2021-03-08 04:40:40
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,146
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26659849
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Impala_Cherry_Trickster/pseuds/Impala_Cherry_Trickster
Summary: With the upcoming festivities, Morgana must teach the group to dance
Relationships: Merlin/Morgana (Merlin)
Comments: 20
Kudos: 153





	Yuletide Dancing

‘Today, you’ll be learning how to follow the simple steps for the dance.’ Lady Morgana commanded attention wherever she went, especially now. Dressed in a gown of purple, she looked every inch the royal, even though she was in the room with the King of Camelot himself, and the woman he was courting.

‘Why do we have to do this?’ Elyan groaned, looking significantly uncomfortable without his armour on. All of the Knights were dressed in breeches and shirts, loose and free, comfortable enough to learn the dance steps they needed.

‘Because the Yuletide feast is coming up, and the Druids love music.’ Morgana explained calmly, clapping her hands together with a smug expression slowly crossing her face.

‘And sex.’ Gwaine muttered under his breath, earning some laughter from the other Knights. Morgana’s bright eyes focused in on him, and the Knight swallowed.

‘For that, you’re going first.’ The Knight stepped out from the group with a grin, wiggling his eyebrows playfully.

‘Unlucky.’ Arthur, unable to ever resist a chance to annoy his rebellious Knight, shot back.

‘And Arthur’s volunteered to be your partner.’ Morgana finished, Gwen giggling while the Knights tried to hide their own laughter. Arthur knew better than to argue, dragged his feet slightly as he stepped to Gwaine’s side.

‘In this situation, Arthur will be the female.’

‘I hate you.’ The King snapped, while Gwaine snatched one of Arthur’s hands, the other going to his waist.

‘C’mon Princess, I’m a great dancer.’ Arthur paused, before his hand finally went to rest on Gwaine’s shoulder, even if he looked ready to kill everyone in the room.

‘Music please, Merlin.’ The Warlock startled out of his daze, eyes flicking golden as he summoned the steady beat of the music.

Merlin wasn’t looking forward to the Yuletide festivities. In fact, he was pretty sure he was going to hate them. It was why he’d denied the dancing class suggestion, opting for sitting on the window-ledge and looking out across Camelot.

As Court Sorcerer, Merlin was no longer a servant to the King. It didn’t stop many from believing he’d risen above his status, so he tried not to use his Magic too much. Even in this sealed room, with nobody but his friends, Merlin turned his head away so they wouldn’t see the gold in his eyes.

It was funny, watching Morgana order the two men to dance, Gwaine smoothly leading the dance while Arthur tripped over his own feet as he moved. Merlin had known Arthur for six years now, and he knew that the King struggled to dance until he’d had a couple of drinks to lower his panic. Nobody laughed, probably fearful that Morgana would pick on them.

‘Now, it’s expected that you will dance with the visiting nobles, so you all have to learn.’ Morgana explained, studying each of them before making her decision.

‘Gwen, partner with Gwaine. Lancelot with Elyan, Percival with Leon. Arthur, you’re with me.’ They hurried to obey, even if it was funny to see the partnering choices. Logically, Morgana had paired them up with a plan behind her movements. Gwaine knew how to dance, so could confidently lead Gwen’s hand. Lancelot had been practicing dancing because of his secret-affection towards the Lady Elena, who was visiting for the Yuletide festivities. Leon had been raised a noble, so was well-versed in the dance.

Merlin started up the music once again, listened to the swearing and profanities that were exchanged as they attempted to dance. Morgana’s well-placed footsteps settled Arthur’s nerves, and the King began to dance with the grace that Merlin knew he had. His eyes drifted across to Gwen, who laughed as Gwaine twirled her around delicately. Leon was swamped by Percival’s size, yet the Knight was nothing other than gentle.

Elyan and Lancelot were the funniest to watch, with Elyan whining about being the female, and Lancelot refusing to swap.

His first Yuletide as Court Sorcerer, and Merlin was terrified.

By the time Morgana called the session to a close, the group were flushed and sweaty. They left in a huddle, heads ducked together and murmuring about the upcoming celebrations, and about how strict Morgana was as a teacher.

**

Gwen shouldn’t have been surprised that it was difficult to learn how to properly dance. Arthur, Leon and Morgana had grown up as nobles, so had a while to practice the moves. According to Gwaine, the Knight was brilliant at dancing because it was a sure-win for the ladies. Lancelot had been practicing, as part of his Courting of Lady Elena, which left the rest of them with absolutely no idea on how to look graceful.

She almost felt jealous of Morgana, the way her Lady could dance as if she had been born with the ability. Gwen could only hope she looked half as graceful dancing with Arthur as Morgana did.

They left the room as a group, the music filtering out behind them and Morgana staying behind to move the furniture back to its original spot. It was only as they exited the room that Gwen realised Merlin hadn't followed them.

‘Do you think Merlin will dance at the feast?’ She questioned, glancing across to her love, then to her friends.

‘He’s been quiet recently.’ Lancelot inputted, from Gwaine’s side. A couple of nods were exchanged, worried looks that led Gwen to turn, glancing back to the oak door.

It was a coincidence, that the door had not quite shut properly, and so Gwen happened to catch a flash of movement that drew her closer. Peeking around the door, just like she had done so on the night that Arthur knelt on the stone, Gwen was faced with the two Sorcerers in the room. She would have thought nothing of it, had Merlin’s face not been pained, and so she decided a little snooping was not a bad thing.

**

‘You look like I did when Arthur stepped on my toes.’ Morgana was the picture of grace, even now. Merlin jumped down from his ledge, moving over to his friend and trying to remove the frown from his face.

‘Do you think I should go away for Yuletide?’ The Lady halted, staring at him as if he were mad. Then her head cocked to the side, looking regal in the way she studied him. It was _that_ look, the one that meant he had said something that she could read into.

‘You’re still not comfortable in your position?’ She could read him so perfectly, moved to stand in front of him and reached for his shoulder.

‘I don’t fit in well with the nobles, I was meant to be…’

‘If you finish that sentence, I will have to hit you.’ He chuckled, ducked his head away from her gaze.

‘I did well as a servant.’

‘And you’ll do better as Court Sorcerer.’

‘The last one ended up dead!’ He pointed out, a secret that he still kept from Arthur. He didn’t need to know that Nimueh had been Uther’s Sorcerer, nor that she’d held such a high position at Court.

‘Well, you ended up killing her, so that’s a bonus.’ Morgana joked, fingers dipping to his chin and tilting it upward.

‘I don’t fit in with them.’ He admitted, hating how it sounded. Morgana sighed, eyes flashing golden as the music started up again. She took a step back, turning and walking into the open space.

‘You’re a King to your people, Merlin. Being a Court Sorcerer is a mere fraction of that status.’ Morgana’s head tilted to the side, a mischievous look crossing her face as she stretched herself out.

‘So I’m not going to mess it up?’ He averted his eyes when she bent low, before Morgana rose back up.

‘You deserve to be here, after all that you’ve lost.’ Merlin winced, rubbed at the back of his neck.

‘I… I did it for Arthur.’

‘Losing your best friend, your love, and your father? Harsh, by anyone’s standard.’ Morgana’s eyes flicked golden once again, this time to change the gown of purple that she had been wearing. A glow encased her, and Merlin couldn’t help but gape at the result.

He should have known she’d be daring in her choice. The purple wrap around her chest was tight, a silver mesh-like fabric over the top and giving him a clear view of her bare stomach. A purple skirt, split at the side and down to her ankles, revealing long legs and endless skin. Merlin forced his eyes to stay at her gaze, watched as Morgana unpinned her hair and let it down to her shoulders.

‘Arthur would have your head if he saw you like that.’ Merlin hated the way his voice sounded squeaky, watched the Sorceress as she began to dance.

‘Arthur notices nothing.’ Anger flickered in to her tone, and Merlin softened his face.

‘If you told him what the Knight did…’

‘I dealt with it. Plus, don’t think I missed the fact he went to Gaius with a broken wrist.’ They were talking about one of the newer recruits, a noble that had the audacity to reach for Lady Morgana and grip her arm. She’d pulled back, stumbled and panicked, almost resorted to her Magic.

‘He hurt you.’ Merlin reasoned, his Magic flickering to life just like hers had done.

‘You don’t have to protect me, you already protect my brother.’ She began to sway, hips moving to a beat that he had created. It was only after a couple of seconds that he realised that his Magic had upped the beat, adding a light vocal to the music, a song that the two of them had heard when they had bullied Kilgharrah into taking them to the continent.

‘You’re talking about Arthur while doing… that?’ His voice broke again, right on the moment where his eyes followed her body as she began to dance.

‘Mm, you’re right, we should be doing less talking.’ Morgana’s leg kicked out, and Merlin acted on instinct when he caught it, hand going to the mid of her back when she dipped herself down.

‘Dance with me, Merlin.’ He did just that, hands moving to her hips and beginning to rock to the music. Naturally, his magic began to take over, lighting the room up and rocking them together, wrapping around the room in a way that he couldn’t control.

Morgana understood him, knew why he didn’t feel like he fitted in with the group. She understood his fear on using his Magic, didn’t call him a coward when he hid his face from them.

Her arm hooked around his neck, her body spinning so that her back pressed to his front. Her hips began to move, swivelling against his own, and he flexed his fingers over her hip.

‘More Magic.’ She demanded, in that voice she used to order the Council to obey her whims. He listened, didn’t have to speak a word for his Magic to gift her a crown of silver, her skin tinted gold as she began to twirl.

‘You belong here.’ He pulled her close, linked their fingers as he began to pull her across the dancefloor, feet expertly moving as he recalled her lessons. Hours of dancing with Morgana, of staying up till the dawn and discussing the repealed ban of Magic, of their friends and the future, all for this.

He didn’t reply to her sentence, opted for catching her when she broke out of the twirl to fall against him, arms hooking around his neck with ease.

‘You belong with me.’ She amended, eyes hooded as they glanced to his lips.

He made the decision for her, kissing her gently as he cradled her cheeks, wanting to remember the way she felt in this moment. Like nothing could come between them, that they could stay like this together. She tasted of honey and sweat and lavender, her breathing heavy and gaze sparkling when he pulled back. They stayed like that for the moment, breath mingling while he brushed aside her dark hair.

‘Stay this Yuletide. Spend it with me.’ He’d never heard her sound so vulnerable, so open, and he decided he adored it.

‘Whatever you want, love.’ Morgana grinned, stepping away from his hold and clearing her throat.

The dress shifted back to her normal gown, while Merlin shut the music down.

‘I expect my room to be cleaned by this evening.’

‘Of course, my Lady.’ He bowed his head slightly, back into the role that they had to keep.

‘And if you so happen to be in my Chambers when I arrive…’ She trailed off, winking at the end of the sentence. Merlin laughed, turning towards the door and pausing when he noticed it cracked open.

Close to being dangerous, but that was how he liked to live.

‘I’ll see you later, my Lady.’


End file.
